Snapshot: March brings music to Westfield High School

Band students have performed on street corners in the past to acquire attention to the music programs offered at WHS. (Submitted photo)

By Anna Skinner

Schools across the nation will be celebrating during March, as Music in Our Schools Month took off March 1. Westfield High School will be joining the nationwide endeavor for the second year.

“This is a dedicated opportunity to acknowledge the activities of various school programs, any kind of activity involving music,” said Mark Sands, band director for WHS. “Our public schools are trying to support that. Music is so inherently in our culture and people don’t realize that it is an endangered species.”

Sands said citizens of Westfield may notice band or choir members performing in local shops around the city. The students will also make an effort to showcase what the music programs at WHS do to other students, and they plan on performing during lunch hour and passing periods.

“We are not trying to be invasive, but we are trying to be noticeable,” Sands said. “A lot of students are not aware of (the band) and they don’t know how good our music is here. We will perform during lunch and passing periods so that people not involved in our program can be exposed and develop an appreciation for them.”

Sands said 145 kids are involved in the choir programs and 160 are involved in band. He also highlighted there are other programs that could benefit the students who do not want to be performers.

“We offer general music programs for students that don’t want to perform but want to experience music, such as beginning guitar and piano, and we also offer drum classes,” Sands said. “We offer higher level training in AP Music Theory. We try to find some way for everybody to be involved in music, either as a performer or just getting involved.”